Counselor Leah's Staff Interview

     Leah's first year of counseling has been a wonderful addition the the CW family!  She has brought a great energy, attitude, and new ideas that her campers are very thankful for.  This week, we interviewed her for some of her thoughts on camp life and her favorite parts about Whitman so far.

Leah and campers cake decorating

How did you hear about Camp Whitman?

     I knew about Camp Whitman because I came as a camper!  I'm not sure how my parents heard of the camp, but maybe it was through my aunt who also went here when she was camper age.

What have been some of your favorite activities this year?

     One of my favorite activities was paper making with All About the Arts.  Paper making is something I've been doing since I was little, so it was really awesome teaching others how to do it.

Leah making paper with some campers

What has surprised you about working at Camp Whitman?

     I was surprised by how easy it was to get back into the swing of being at camp.  Everyone; campers, counselors, and leadership are so welcoming and excited to be here - it's great.

Counselors, Leah and Erin, working with their campers to create a Play

If you had a piece of advice for a first year counselor what would it be?

    "Fake it 'til you make it" is definitely helpful, but also asking for help when you need it.

Leah playing Fetch with Pastor Colin's dog at C-field

Please describe Camp Whitman in one word.

Important.

Meet the 2014 CW Aquatics Staff

     This summer our aquatics has been awesome both on and off the water.  When they aren't at the pool or on the lake guarding, we can usually find them hanging out with one of our camps getting to know our campers.  Most of the lifeguards are returning staff from past years, except Amanda, who joined our staff after her sister Laura (also a lifeguard) worked at camp last summer.  We asked them some questions about their camping experiences and here are their responses.

Aquatics Director Kayla, and Lifeguards, Amanda, Laura, and Jess

One of our Lifeguards Joe!

Were you a camper at Camp Whitman as a Child?


While Joe was not familiar with CW until he came here as a counselor four years ago and Amanda said that she regrets not coming here as a kid, Kayla, Jess, and Laura were veterans of camp when they joined our staff.  Jess attended 4th and Fifth Grade Camp when she was young, and Kayla highlighted her years as a sailing camper as some of her favorites.  Laura also recalled very fond memories of Girl Power camp!

What is your favorite activity as aquatics staff?

Of course all of aquatics really enjoy different water activities.  Kayaking is at the top of Kayla and Jess' list and Joe loves anything that campers participate in on the lake.  Laura and Jess also have a great time guarding swim time for our D.R.I.V.E students and campers with developmental disabilities.  Amanda's favorite part of being on the aquatics team is blowing the whistle for Buddy Checks at the pool.  Laura also made a point of saying that she really enjoys eating homemade ice-cream with the campers after they make it.

Kayla teaching our High School campers how to rig a sailboat

Do you have a least favorite part of camp?

The only problem that aquatics staff has with camp is that they cannot get enough of it.  Joe said he is only disappointed when he has to go home on Friday and the rest of aquatics said that they wish they had the opportunity to get to know the campers better.

4th and 5th grade campers

What advice do you have for first-year campers?

Try New Things!!!

Aquatics staff making cookies for some other staff members

What is something new you have learned during you time at camp?

Everyone was able to describe a new skill they have gained because of their time at Camp Whitman.  Joe has learned how to make successful tie-dye. Kayla has learned how to teach sailing to campers as well as drive our Boston Whaler on the lake.  Laura and Jess talked about their excitement to work with our campers with developmental disabilities, and Amanda has gained new resources after witnessing several of camp's worship session.

Laura Guarding on the Lake

Finally, describe a typical day at camp.

After breakfast, we usually start our day with swim lessons or sailing depending on the age group we are working with.  After lunch we have swim time, and different camps do canoeing and kayaking on the lakefront.  When everyone has finished dinner, we take different family groups banana boating or our adult campers will enjoy a ride on the motor boat.

Wilderness Survival Camp!

     This week's high school camp was Wilderness Survival, where their counselors worked with them to learn new outdoor skills and survival techniques.   On Thursday morning this group went to the Cayuga Nature Center and had the opportunity to observe many different kinds of animals and enjoy the outdoors.

Camper Samantha, with our Counselor Lacey

6 story Tree Fort

     We had the opportunity to observe several types of snakes, a few of which were in the midst of shedding their skins, which was something a couple of campers (and staff) found very interesting to observe.  There were also turtles, flying squirrels, and many other animals, including a Peacock, Peahen and his family of newly hatched chicks.

One of the snakes shedding its skin while we visited

Martin observing some of the reptiles

 One of the last activities the campers were able to participate in, was exploring inside of enormous tree fort that Cayuga Nature Center had on their site.  This was definitely some of the campers' favorite event of the day, and we all spent some quality time hanging out in the very top of the fort talking about the week.

Samantha and Phoebe saying hello from the fort

The very top of the fort

Samantha, Matt, Pastor Leah, and Phoebe enjoying the view

   

Keeping Cool at Camp!

     This week is gearing up to be one of the warmest our campers have experienced yet this summer, but that isn't stopping our campers and staff from having fun.  Monday night, our graded campers played an instincts field game that involved gaining life chips and food/water points without getting tagged by anyone else.  Even when it started raining the campers had a great attitude and continued playing a couple more rounds before drying off.

Campers playing instincts

The game continues in spite of some sprinkling

This morning our camps got off to a great start, beginning with our Day Campers enjoying a slip-n-slide before their swim lessons.

Counselor Ben, getting our campers ready for the Slip-n-Slide

     Our Experience campers also had a chance to practice their sailing a little bit more this morning, before our Bike and Kayak camp went out on the lake to enjoy a floating lunch in their kayaks.

Experience campers, rigging their boats

Enjoying the water and the sun!

CICIT Guest Blog: Part 3

     This week we are going to be featuring guest blogs from our CIT campers from last week.  They are giving details about their experiences as well as their overall impression of what it meant to be a counselor at Camp Whitman.  This blog was written by CIT counselor, Shane Dubois.

2014 CIT campers

     When I was driving down Whitman Road for the 10th time in 7 years I had no clear idea what to expect in CIT this week. One thing I did know, it wasn't going be like any other camp I had ever been to in my past years of Whitman. After meeting my counselors Ileya and Jess, who I had never had before in past weeks at camp.  After doing name games and the normal safety hike, I knew that my life was never going to be the same.      

      Early in the week we had a deep discussion around the campfire and it amazed me that people would go that deep with people they barely knew. I immediately revisited the deep trust issues I had through the years and threw them out knowing I could trust this group to the sun and back. We also had an opportunity to have a vespers with Colin the wonderful volunteer Chaplin, and he asked us about what our story was and I really had to think. I've always thought as this average teenager from Elmira but Colin was really making me think and so I did, I'm was at this table with 4 other people who want to make a difference in at least one person’s life. Colin also asked us to describe one time in our life when we saw Jesus working in our lives or our favourite biblical story, most of us chose to describe when we saw Jesus’ work. I described when a man asked me to go to Camp Whitman and how every time I come to camp I take so much back with me every year.

CITs at all camp vespers, worship service

     We got the opportunity to work with almost all the camps that were there that week! I'll start with Pine, our camp for people with developmental disabilities. Pine is so easy to work with for me because my mom is disabled and I applied skills that I've used with her for years to working with pine. Taking time explaining the activity, fellow camper James and I led the "Sports and Games" camp and personally worked with that camp and all the other camps. It was incredible working with the Adventures camp and the Day camp. I had always had a good sense of planning things just not a clear way of executing things that I had planned, but I quickly learned a great way of doing this with Pine campers and also Graded campers. We also learned useful strategies to use when working with campers.

CITs working with our Day Campers

     We also had a service project that we worked on throughout the week, which was cleaning and making the stairway that leads from main field to where the Pine cabins are located. On the last day we sat on the bridge that was pretty much finished and talked and reflected back on the week. After some self thought when I got home I soon realized how much Jess and Ileya had helped me grow so much throughout the week and how blessed I really was to do CIT this year.

CIT campers standing on the stairs that they worked on this week

    After saying my goodbyes to my fellow counselors-in-training and getting in my car and driving down Whitman Road and Rt. 14 back to Elmira I had no words as people asked me how my week was it was the most life changing experience I have ever had and I am exited to devote the rest of my summer to volunteering with the wonderful ministry that is Camp Whitman on Seneca Lake!       

CIT Guest Blog: Part 2

      This week we are going to be featuring guest blogs from our CIT campers from last week.  They are giving details about their experiences as well as their overall impression of what it meant to be a counselor at Camp Whitman.  Our second blog was written by CIT counselor, Delaney Lukwoski.

2014 CIT campers

  The past week at CIT camp was fantastic. At first, on Sunday and Monday, I was a bit apprehensive about it because I wasn’t confident in myself. Being, even partially responsible for campers made me a bit uneasy. I knew that I was inexperienced and that made me very nervous. The worst possible situations kept coming to mind when I thought of having to lead campers. On the flip side of that I was beyond excited about being a CIT. After being a camper for six summers before this, I felt like I would be really good at this because of all my experiences at camp that I enjoyed and I would get a taste of what being a counselor is like. I had so many conflicting feelings about it.

Delaney working with a Day Camper

As the week went on, I became a lot more comfortable working with the campers. My counselors, Jess and Ileya were awesome. They were always giving us all helpful hints and tips on things; like how to get the campers attention; how to keep them focused and how to get all of them to participate in the activities. The first time we worked with campers was when we canoed with the Adventure camp. I was a bit nervous because I have never been a great canoer, I’ve always been better at kayaking and preferred it. The campers in my canoe were afraid of tipping over the boat, so to keep their minds off that fear I decided to ask them about their interests. Not only did talking calm them down, but it made me less tense about the canoe trip as well. I ended up really enjoying canoeing and really look forward to doing it again.

Volunteer Chaplain, Colin, winding up with a pillow
to help get Delaney out of bed

...and the follow through

Getting to know all of the campers was one of favorite parts of being a CIT. I love just talking with all of them. Hearing about why camp is so important to them and how they’ve made so many friends throughout the years and always plan what week they are coming so they can see all of them again. I enjoy it so much because it’s exactly what I’ve always done when I’m at camp. I also liked planning the crafts and games we got the opportunity to lead at the end of the week because it gave me a chance to think about what some of my favorites are. I aspire to become a counselor because I want campers to have the same wonderful memories and experiences at camp that I have had.

CITs on the stairs that they worked on to make more safe for our campers

When we had our meeting with Rhonda on Friday about our past week, she asked us how we felt our week went. I told her I thought the week went extremely well. I was ten times more confident in my leadership skills and felt like I had a good idea of what being a counselor would be like. I connected and related with several of the campers and it made me even more eager to become a counselor. Later on in the meeting she made a joke about the CIT camp being a camp where you pay to come and “work”. I found this quite comical because if that is what working at Camp Whitman is like, then working for them is going to be a breeze. I’d forget it’s work in mere seconds, it’s more fun than it is work. 

CITs participating in our Wednesday Vespers service